Sun Sickness
by Kalira69
Summary: Ambassador Sokka thought he was prepared for everything living in the Fire Nation Palace would bring. When the height of summer hits almost a year after he settles there and he finds out he may have been wrong, he keeps it to himself - he may be miserable, but he refuses to complain over a little . . . horrible, oppressive heat.


Written for a request from dimancheetoile on Tumblr.

* * *

Sokka dragged himself out of bed, faintly aware that he was expected to be at a mostly informal breakfast with Zuko and several other ambassadors very soon. He wasn't hungry - he hadn't _really_ been hungry in weeks - but that wasn't the point, anyway.

He dressed in the light but layered formal clothes that were his usual these days - that Zuko himself had brought, showing up at his door with an armful of fabric not long after he'd officially moved in; it had still been early enough Sokka hadn't quite twigged that was unusual - beneath the Fire Lord, for sure. The clothes were still primarily shades of blue, and he'd been pleased to see his surcoats were cut a little more like Water Tribe tunics than the Fire Nation style, but it was still very different from what he had been used to.

And even the light fabric felt like too much here in the Fire Nation sometimes, lately. _Existing_ felt like too much. Sokka panted a little after he stepped outside. It wasn't even breakfast yet, barely _dawn_ , and he felt like he was melting out here. Even keeping to the walkway at one side of the lush courtyard where there was still a roof overhead blocking the early morning sun.

When Zuko had asked him to stay - when his father had encouraged him to do so, to take on the position of Ambassador here, something rather new to their tribe; or at least, something they hadn't had in over a century - Sokka had been excited. He had also thought he was prepared for what it would be like living in the Fire Nation, far more worried about the politics, the lingering crazy people who were remnants of Ozai's rule, hell, even adjusting to _life in the palace_ \- Sokka lived in a palace now, his younger self would never have believed it - than anything as trivial as the weather.

He'd been fine, if occasionally less than comfortable, while they were hiding out on Ember Island, after all.

Only as it happened, Caldera City got _much_ hotter than Ember Island, at least during the summer - the core of the summer Sokka had heard the servants call the dragon days.

It hadn't been a reassuring name then, and now that he was suffering through them . . . it wasn't any better.

Sokka smiled at Zuko, making his way over to his friend. No one else was present yet, so when he sat beside Zuko, he greeted his friend with a playful shove to the shoulder, and made an impolite face to refuse the offered tea. Zuko gave an amused huff and didn't take any offense - and he wasn't drinking any himself.

How people could drink tea when it was so hot here baffled Sokka. He stuck to fruit juice, and once the other guests arrived and the food was brought out he picked at it without much interest, though he was only half paying attention to his breakfast companions, either.

"You're not eating." Zuko said softly, too low for anyone else at the table to hear, eyeing Sokka without turning directly towards him. "Are you feeling all right?"

"I'm tired." Sokka told him, shaking his head. "It's early."

Zuko frowned, but nodded understanding, and he looked away a moment later when Maro spoke to him. Sokka hid a grimace and drained his glass, ignoring the sick feeling worsening in favour of feeling a little less overheated for a brief moment.

He tried harder to focus on the people around him, though he was a little distracted by the discomfort of feeling ill and, of course, still too hot. Sokka had mostly resigned himself to being 'too hot' all the time for a while yet, possibly until the end of summer.

* * *

Sokka actually enjoyed Council meetings - to Zuko's shock and confusion, and when he was in a more playful mood, pointed teasing - when they weren't spiralling rapidly into messy arguments. Today's was not, but Sokka could hardly keep his own head on task, and he was quietly dreading when it was formally his turn to speak.

At least, he thought it had been in the plan for today's meeting for him to present a plan of action; now he couldn't even remember.

Sokka's head ached and he was having difficulty focusing on the meeting, on his fellow Ambassadors and Zuko and. . .

Sokka squeezed his eyes closed, hard, for a few moments, feeling a little like he couldn't breathe. He squashed down the feeling. He was _fine_ , he knew he could breathe, he was just _sitting_ here. Perfectly fine. His head pounded and he thought he might have thrown up right there on the table if there had been anything in his stomach to bring up.

Or if he'd had the energy to retch. He felt drained, his body leaden.

"Ambassador Sokka?"

Sokka lifted his head, not quite able to startle, and looked at the elegant Earth Kingdom ambassador from Ba Sing Se. His brain was so foggy it took him a moment to remember her name. Ambassador Li Yen. He tried to apologise for his inattention - he didn't even know what he had zoned out on; who had been speaking? - but he didn't think he managed it.

In fact, she only looked even more concerned, and Sokka fought a little harder to offer a polite reassurance, embarrassed, but-

His vision filled with black spots again, and he shook his head to try and clear it - or . . . he thought he did. . .

His stomach twisted, he panted weakly for breath, and everything went red.

* * *

Sokka felt sicker than he ever had in his life when he woke, sapped of energy like he'd been running out on the ice for _days_ \- but he was so hot he ached, like he was sunburnt but even _under his skin_. He cringed, barely able to pry his eyes open, but vaguely thinking he'd been . . . had he been at a Council meeting? Where-

Sokka's stomach twisted and he coughed, starting to retch weakly.

Strong hands caught his shoulders and hauled him up helpfully, and Sokka realised he was lying in . . . water? He shuddered, struggling to breathe as he coughed up little more than water and stomach acid into the basin that had appeared in front of him. A tight grip around his shoulders kept him from falling face-first to the floor beyond it.

Zuko, Sokka saw when he was finally able to stop retching and his friend helped him to straighten, then lie back against the edge of the bath. He winced, both at moving and realising that he'd nearly thrown up on Zuko. "Hey." he rasped.

"Here." Zuko looked away for a moment, reaching for something out of Sokka's sightline. "Drink."

Ah. Water. Sokka accepted the cup Zuko offered him with trembling hands, but managed to bring it up and drink without losing his grip. "Thank you." he managed, only slightly less raspy. Zuko took the cup away as soon as he lowered it again, fingers brushing his hands. Zuko's hands felt cool.

 _Zuko's_ hands felt cool. Sokka didn't think Zuko's hands had ever been cool. Sometimes it was a pleasant sort of warmth and sometimes it was an uncomfortable, skin-tightening heat, like leaning too close over a campfire, but Zuko always felt warm.

"I, uh. . ." Sokka licked his dry, cracked lips and looked up at his friend.

Zuko frowned at him, brushing a hand across his brow, pushing aside Sokka's hair, which he realised was falling free of its wolf-tail. "Why didn't you say anything?" he asked, looking concerned or maybe angry. "You were-"

"I was fine!" Sokka protested.

Zuko's eyes narrowed. "Fine." he repeated, eyes sweeping pointedly down over Sokka reclining in a bath. "You're . . . _fine_."

"I didn't want to- Being hot is _uncomfortable_ but I wasn't going to whine about it!" Sokka said, shifting uncomfortably and wincing as his stomach twisted again.

"You weren't just _uncomfortable_ , sun sickness is very serious, Sokka!" Zuko said sharply. He shook his head, and Sokka noticed his expression was pinched, a little like it got when he had been working on the same treaty or amendment for days and felt like he was making no progress. Zuko handled worry rather badly.

Zuko _needed_ Sokka here - and he'd needed Sokka functioning, being his usual self; Sokka didn't have time to be sick and he certainly wasn't _leaving_ , even if the Fire Nation heat was awful. He bit his lip, though, frowning. Sun sickness?

"I felt sick, but I mean. . . I was handling it fine." Sokka said, looking at his friend. "I don't know-" he broke off as Zuko rested a hand on his bare shoulder for a moment, startled. The back of Zuko's thumb brushed Sokka's neck as he withdrew his hand.

Zuko poured more water into the cup, then handed it back. He rose, surprising Sokka, and then closed his eyes, breathing slow as he drew one splayed hand over the bath Sokka was lying in and rolled his other through a familiar fluid push like he was firebending, but no flames - fortunately - appeared even at the finish of the gesture.

"Uh. . ." Sokka swallowed, which hurt, and took another drink of water, slowly, watching Zuko curiously. He drained the cup, and then swallowed dry, wincing. That hurt more.

Zuko repeated the move another few times, then returned to his place at the edge of the bath, taking Sokka's cup away again. This time he immediately refilled it and passed it back, though. "Don't make yourself sick, but you need the fluids if you can stomach more." he said, and Sokka nodded, though he wasn't actually sure why.

"Sun sickness?" Sokka asked uncertainly. "What do you mean?"

"Too much sun, and too much heat from the sun. You got so overheated you couldn't function." Zuko said, sharp in the way he got only when he was upset. His eyes flashed. "You aren't used to the summers here, I should have remembered. _Someone_ should have thought of it."

"I _have_ been all over the world, you know. It's not like I came straight here from the South Pole." Sokka said, a little irritated. He _had_ been inexperienced and . . . admittedly somewhat less than prepared for the world beyond his village, once - and in many ways - but that was long over with _now_.

"Nowhere else in the world is quite like here, in the summer." Zuko said with a shrug. "Even in the desert. The heat might be worse - maybe - but not . . . it doesn't hit the same way. And the sun is closer, here, on the equator. It's why the Fire Nation. . ." He shook his head. "Look, it's not a slight on you that you got sick. You're not used to it and you didn't know how to deal with it. But sun sickness is serious, Sokka, you-"

"I'm okay!" Sokka said, waving one hand around and then regretting it very quickly. He was still weak and the movement had hurt _and_ felt like it had taken every scrap of energy he might have had, simple as it had been. "Well, I mean. I don't feel great and I guess . . . did I really faint in the Council room?" he asked, cringing.

"You did." Zuko said, mouth a tight line. "You almost fell into Ambassador Li Yen's lap. Sokka, you could have _died_ , not saying anything; not taking care of yourself."

"What?" Sokka yelped. _Died?_

"Sun sickness is serious!" Zuko repeated loudly, lunging to his feet again and taking a couple of frustrated, abortive steps. "If you don't cool off for a prolonged period, suffering through it, your organs, your _brain_ , can start to _cook_!" he snapped, and Sokka grimaced. "So yes! You could have died!" He whirled back to face Sokka.

"Ew. And . . . ow. I need my brain!" Sokka frowned.

"You clearly weren't using it!" Zuko snapped, and Sokka's frown deepened. "The doctor said there was no _way_ it just struck you today, so you had to have known something was wrong, why didn't you _say_ anything?"

"Doctor?" Sokka repeated dumbly.

"Yes! Doctor! Did you think I just hauled you in here and dumped you in the bath to hope for the best?" Zuko looked incensed now, stepping closer again and looming over him. Sokka swallowed.

"Uh. No?" he tried, and Zuko snorted angrily. Sokka half expected to see smoke curling from his nostrils. "Why _am_ I in the bath?" he asked tentatively.

"To cool off." Zuko said, more calmly but still harshly bitten off. "Submersion in cool water works better than just fanning someone, especially if the water can be _kept_ cool." He folded his legs, sitting on the floor beside the bath and looking at Sokka.

"Oh. That's good." Sokka said, wiggling his fingers in the water. "I. Uh."

"What?" Zuko asked, sounding _tired_ now.

"Should you be here? Looking after me, I mean, I know you have . . . important things to do." Sokka said, frowning. "I don't want to be a problem for you."

Zuko reached out, brushing the backs of his fingers over Sokka's cheek. "You're not a problem. You're never a problem." he said gently. "You've done more to help me in the past few months than anyone else in the palace, Sokka. I was _worried_ for you."

"Oh." Sokka said again, blinking.

"Does that surprise you so much?" Zuko asked, frowning. "You're- You're my best friend." he said quietly, drawing his hand back and resting his arm on the edge of the bath. "When you collapsed today. . ." he trailed off, leaning on the edge of the bath with a soft huff of air, slumping a little.

"I didn't want to complain." Sokka explained. "I didn't- I've never heard of sun sickness."

"I guess it isn't really common outside the Fire Nation. Especially _here_ , actually, and . . . most of the Earth Kingdom land along the equator is desert; not many people live there." Zuko sighed.

"Yeah, I don't blame them, it was kind of miserable there." Sokka said absently. "Have- Have _you_ ever had sun sickness?" he asked.

Zuko stared at him.

". . .what?" Sokka asked after a moment.

Zuko shook his head. "I'm a _firebender_ , Sokka." he said patiently. "I don't get sick from the sun. Not ever."

"Oh. Well _that's_ just not fair." Sokka sulked, and was glad to see the amused - if exasperated - curl tugging at Zuko's lips in response.

"Well I don't like the cold." Zuko said practically, reaching out again and touching Sokka's cheek. "How do you feel?" he asked.

"Sick." Sokka admitted, and groaned. "Not so bad, though." He reached for Zuko's hand when he made to draw it back. "Your hands aren't cold any more." Sokka said curiously.

Zuko stilled, fingers twitching in his grasp. "My hands haven't been _cold_ since the last time I visited the South Pole with you." he said, frowning.

"They felt cool before." Sokka disagreed, rubbing his thumb over the side of Zuko's hand before releasing it.

"That would be because you were still coming down from _cooking inside_." Zuko said dryly, turning Sokka's hand over and resting one palm over the inside of his wrist. "It's good your temperature is lowering more. I- I was worried." he said again, frowning slightly.

"I'm sorry." Sokka said, fidgeting. "The doctor, you said . . . didn't the doctor tell you I'd be all right?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

" _Probably._ " Zuko said, his voice tight, and Sokka frowned.

"You mean you didn't pay attention?" Sokka snorted, lightening his tone, hoping to coax the taut discomfort out of Zuko's voice again. "Not very worried after all then-"

"He said you would _probably_ recover!" Zuko shouted, hands slamming into the edge of the bath and making Sokka jump. " _If_ you could be cooled off quick enough - but not _too_ quick - _if_ you could be _kept_ cool, _if_ you were _strong enough_ , and _if_ some factors he just didn't know! So _yes_ I was _worried_!" he snapped in a flare of temper, a wobble in his voice now instead. "I just- There was nothing else to _do_ , I just had to keep you cool and wait for you to wake up and see if you-"

"I. . . Why?" Sokka asked without thinking, looking at Zuko's hands, tightening on the edge of the bath. He shook his head, looking up at Zuko's face again. "I mean, I know- We're _friends_ , of course you would- But . . . why were you so- _You_ stayed with me. You even let the doctor go but _you_ stayed instead of. . . Why?"

"Because I _care about you_ , you _idiot_!" Zuko snapped, and Sokka frowned, but before he could argue any further, Zuko's hands curled over his shoulders and Zuko's mouth was slanted over his, pressing hard. Sokka's eyes widened, and the hand he'd thrown up when Zuko lunged for him relaxed, curling into his friend's surcoat, which Sokka realised was damp.

It was a harsh, demanding sort of kiss - barely a kiss at all - but somehow _that_ didn't really surprise Sokka. If he was going to do it at all somehow this . . . fit. Sokka tugged gently at his handful of fabric, mumbling Zuko's name against his mouth, and he softened a little; enough for Sokka to give a tentative kiss back before he broke away.

Sokka opened his mouth, not _entirely_ sure what was about to come out of it - it usually served him fairly well, pulling words from his brain with no idea what was coming - but before he could find out, Zuko's eyes widened and he was suddenly-

Sokka was pushed into falling back against the edge of the bath as Zuko toppled into it on top of him, and he burst out laughing even as Zuko's weight shoved him backwards. The impact hurt a little - Sokka might be feeling less awful, but he was definitely not 'better' yet - but the shocked look on Zuko's face the instant before he fell, and even better, _now_ , as he flailed clumsily in the water. . .

Tears of mirth formed in Sokka's eyes; he couldn't quite stop laughing as Zuko sputtered, his surcoat and shirt plastered to his chest and shoulders, his hair falling, sodden, from its topknot and sticking to his face and right across one wide, startled eye, his limbs tangled up in his wet clothes. And tangled up with Sokka's.

"Hi." Sokka said, his voice unsteady with fading laughter. Zuko's face had gone ruddy and he refused to look Sokka in the eye, trying to pull away, to disentangle himself, but he kept slipping. His knee pressed against the inside of Sokka's thigh - bare, of course, he was only still wearing his loincloth, though Zuko had on a few more now very wet layers.

Sokka reached up and cupped Zuko's face, quiet now - his ribs ached a little from laughing, and he was still breathless - stroking his thumb across Zuko's cheek. He was very close, leaning forward from catching himself by one hand braced against the bottom of the bath by Sokka's hip.

Impulsively, he leaned up, closing the already short distance between them, and paused with his nose almost brushing Zuko's, bright eyes locked with his own. "I care about you, too." he said, voice low, then kissed Zuko softly.

Zuko flushed an even deeper shade at the contact, eyes locked with Sokka's, but he was smiling as he carefully pulled back. Sokka stroked his cheek and down his jaw again, then dropped his hand, and Zuko started disentangling himself properly so he could climb to his feet. He was dripping rather a lot, his sodden clothes hanging heavily around him as he stepped out of the bath.

Sokka watched him, smiling a little himself. A dozen questions and comments rushed into his mind, but he stifled them for now. "What, uh, what could I have done? About the sun sickness." he asked rather than what he _really_ wanted to, which was _where_ that sudden kiss had come from and if Zuko cared like _that_ how long-

Sokka shook his head slightly, pushing his damp hair back from his face. Some of it had already been coming down from his wolf-tail, Zuko grabbing him and then nearly falling on him had loosened more. Lifting his arms enough to deal with it was easy enough - to Sokka's relief, he longer felt like a single small movement was sapping all his energy.

Zuko's shoulders shifted. "You could have left Caldera City-"

" _No._ " Sokka said, narrowing his eyes. "I'm not leaving you. Especially not when you have that big acco- What?" he broke off, eyeing Zuko, surprised. He was slightly flushed and not quite looking at Sokka. He was also still dripping, to Sokka's faint surprise. Zuko didn't usually hang around wet, but dried himself quickly once out of water, steam billowing off him like-

Oh. He probably wasn't doing that because he was trying to keep from putting any more heat into the room, for Sokka's sake. He flushed.

Zuko didn't answer, and Sokka went over what he'd just said. He fidgeted, his flush deepening as he thought he realised what had caused that reaction, but he scooted forwards in the bath again and caught the edge of Zuko's sodden sleeve, tugging it to get his attention.

"Meant it." Sokka said stubbornly when Zuko looked at him again, golden eyes half-hidden by wet, unruly hair. "You're my best friend too, and I-

"You think that's going to stop any time soon?" Zuko asked, mouth twisting, gesturing beyond _them_ out at the palace - the Nation - beyond. With his free hand, not pulling his sleeve from Sokka's grip.

"Not really." Sokka agreed. The Fire Nation was coming along very well under Zuko's hands, the crazy dying down _wonderfully_ \- perhaps slightly amazing, considering what a mess Zuko was, not that Sokka was going to point that out to him, at least not like _this_ \- but there was still a _lot_ of work to be done. "Good. I have no intention of _leaving_ any time soon. And I have a good reason to stay."

"I _want_ you to stay." Zuko said quietly. "Is-" he hesitated, and Sokka made a prompting sound, only slightly impatient. "Is that not a good reason?" he asked tentatively.

Sokka opened his mouth, then closed it, biting his lip. "It is." Sokka told him, and he knew his friend well enough now that he had expected the surprise that flashed across Zuko's face at the words. It still made him want to somehow go back and smack Zuko's family over their stupid _noble_ , fiery heads with his boomerang. Or his club.

Of course, Zuko's family was mostly crazy and Sokka would probably die in about two seconds if he tried it, even if it were possible. . .

"It is, and _I_ want to stay. I like it here." Sokka said; and it was entirely _honest_ , which was a wonder. "Not just because of you but . . . a lot because of you. And it's good I have something to _do_ here." he added, with a proud little grin he couldn't quite stifle. Sokka _had_ been busy here, and he'd taken to the tasks he found for himself as not only ambassador but adviser more happily than even he'd expected. "And I'm not leaving you," Sokka paused, flushing deeper red, "leaving, um, the palace, and everything I do here, just because your stupid ancestors settled on a stupidly, miserably hot island."

"My stupid ancestors," Zuko said, his voice rich with amusement, and knelt beside the bath again, "were firebenders and chose this island _because_ of how close the sun is, how strong it is here."

"Oh." Sokka said. That made _sense_ , but it . . . sucked. "They probably didn't expect to have many non-Fire-Nation-y people here, huh?"

"We weren't always so. . ." Zuko trailed off, fingers dipping into the surface of the water again. "My great-grandfather Sozin changed a lot of things. And non-benders from the Fire Nation are just as susceptible to sun sickness and sunburns and things, if they're not used to it or don't take precautions." he added.

"So . . . there are ways to keep the, uh, sun sickness from coming back, or control it, right?" Sokka asked hopefully, because no, he had no intention of _leaving_ , but he would really like to not feel as miserable as he had the past few weeks _again_. And not to accidentally cook his brain.

"There are ways to keep cool - _cooler_ \- even in the dragon days, yes." Zuko said, then shrugged. "I've never paid much mind to them."

"Because you don't need them." Sokka said with a huff. Zuko grinned. "Stupid jerkbender." he added, sticking his tongue out, and Zuko laughed softly. Sokka smiled, maybe a little foolishly. He still didn't do it often - Sokka hadn't realised until a month after his investment as Fire Lord that he'd _never_ heard his friend laugh - but Sokka loved managing to make Zuko laugh. Maybe even more for the fact that it was so unusual.

"I don't, but there are others in the palace who do, or will know." Zuko said, reaching out and gently stroking his cheek. "Including the doctor who has already looked at you. Probably the dragon days will pass in another week or two, as well. It should be a little less. . ."

"Miserable." Sokka supplied, shuddering.

". . .miserable for you, when they do." Zuko finished, with a crooked smile. "If- If you stay here, though, you may even get used to it, eventually. A little."

"How long does _that_ take?" Sokka asked. "Because man, I really like you and all, but I'm not sure I _want_ to get used to this heat. It's awful."

Zuko shrugged. "You could leave just during the dragon days." he pointed out, and Sokka caught his wrist when he pulled back as though to rise again. "You could visit your home, or-"

"I've lived here for almost a year, Zuko," Sokka pointed out gently, "the South Pole is where I come from, it's where most of my family lives, but it's not my home any more. _Here_ is. And don't look smug." Zuko didn't really look smug, actually, he looked surprised and. . . Sokka tugged at him, and he leaned obligingly closer, Sokka thought without really noticing. "You're just stuck with me."

Zuko grinned, broad and a little awkward. It made Sokka feel better about reaching up and stroking his jaw, trailing a fingertip just beneath his mouth. "How- However it is, you're still going to be stuck with me." he said again, softer, biting his lip and meeting Zuko's eyes, hoping he would understand.

Zuko's smile softened, his eyes widening a little. "Good." he said quietly, sliding his fingers between Sokka's and leaning forwards. His lips just _barely_ brushed Sokka's, and then-

Zuko rolled back on his heels, releasing Sokka's hand, and rose to his feet again. "When you feel better." he said, still flushed but not looking so awkward or uncertain any more. "Maybe." His eyebrow quirked.

Sokka gaped for a moment, having gotten so far as anticipating the kiss Zuko had been _just about_ to give him. "Hey!" he protested, and pouted.

"Then don't do this to yourself again." Zuko said firmly, scowling, and Sokka pouted at him some more, making his eyes bigger. Zuko wavered visibly, then bent and kissed his brow lightly. It wasn't what Sokka had been angling for, but it was unexpected and sweet. "I'm going to send for the doctor to check on you again, now that you're improving." Zuko said, moving to the door and stepping out.

Sokka sank back in the bath, grinning. His mind was busily working at _what this might mean_ , because things would _change_ , if they were. . . But . . . mostly he was just happy. Even if he was also still feeling slightly awful. Ugh. _Sun sickness_. Only in the Fire Nation, Sokka thought. And he'd decided to call this place home.

The smile still wouldn't quite leave his face.

* * *

. . .next year, just before the dragon days are upon them, Zuko mysteriously has Fire Lord business somewhere away from Caldera City, which of course Sokka accompanies him on, to elsewhere in the Fire Nation or perhaps a visit elsewhere in the world. .

The request was for Ambassador Sokka unable to handle the summer heatwave in the Fire Nation, and getting sunstroke, but not wanting to bother anyone so keeping quiet until he passed out in a Council meeting, and Zuko is super worried.


End file.
